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About the Secretary

Steven Terner Mnuchin was sworn in as the 77th Secretary of the Treasury on February 13, 2017. As Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Mnuchin is responsible for the executive branch agency whose mission is to maintain a strong economy, foster economic growth, and create job opportunities by promoting the conditions that enable prosperity and stability at home and abroad.

The survey was undertaken jointly by the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Future surveys are scheduled to be carried out annually. The next report will present results from the survey for year-end 2006.

A complementary survey measuring foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. securities is also carried out annually. Preliminary results from the most recent such survey, covering securities held as of June 30, 2006, are expected to be reported by March 30, 2007.

Overall Results

The survey measured the value of U.S. holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2005 of approximately $4,609 billion, with $3,318 billion held in foreign equities, $1,028 billion in foreign long-term debt securities (original term-to-maturity in excess of one year), and $263 billion in foreign short-term debt securities. The previous survey measured U.S. holdings at year-end 2004 of approximately $3,787 billion, with $2,560 billion held in foreign equities, $993 billion in foreign long-term debt securities, and $233 billion in foreign short-term debt securities (see Table 1).

U.S. holdings by country at the end of 2005 were by far the largest for the United Kingdom ($815 billion), followed by Japan ($531 billion) and Canada ($419 billion) (see Table 2).

The surveys are part of an internationally-coordinated effort under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to improve the measurement of portfolio asset holdings.

Table 1. Value of U.S. holdings of foreign securities, by type of security, at end-2004 and end-2005 [1]

(Billions of dollars)

Type of Security

Dec. 31, 2004

Dec. 31, 2005

Long-term Securities

3,553

4,346

equity

2,560

3,318

long-term debt

993

1,028

Short-term debt securities

233

263

Total

3,787

4,609

U.S. Portfolio Investment by Country

Table 2. Value of U.S. holdings of foreign securities, by country and type of security, for the countries attracting the most U.S. investment, as of December 31, 2005

(Billions of dollars, except as noted)

Debt securities:

Total

Equities

Long-term

Short-term

1

United Kingdom

815

538

185

92

2

Japan

531

493

35

2

3

Canada

419

248

158

14

4

France

274

205

48

21

5

Cayman Islands

249

103

118

28

6

Germany

217

158

49

10

7

Switzerland

196

192

2

2

8

Netherlands

192

133

52

7

9

Bermuda

187

174

11

2

10

Australia

128

71

49

9

11

South Korea

119

110

8

0

12

Brazil

90

69

22

0

13

Mexico

86

58

28

0

14

Italy

79

64

12

3

15

Ireland

75

33

17

25

16

Sweden

75

41

16

18

17

Spain

70

64

6

1

18

Taiwan

58

57

1

*

19

Finland

49

44

4

0

20

Netherlands Antilles

47

45

2

*

21

Luxembourg

46

11

29

6

22

Hong Kong, SAR

46

44

2

0

23

Israel

44

29

15

0

24

Singapore

36

29

7

0

25

Norway

36

22

9

5

Rest of world

445

283

143

19

Total value of investment

4,609

3,318

1,028

263

* Greater than zero and less than $500 million. Note: items may not add to total due to rounding.

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[1] The stock of foreign securities for December 31, 2005, reported in this survey does not, for a number or reasons, correspond to the stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2004, plus cumulative flows reported in Treasury's transactions reporting system. An analysis of the relation between the stock and flow data is available in Table 4 and the associated text of the final report on U.S. holdings of foreign securities at end-year 2005.